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For a list of vehicles that have been considered to be the result of badge engineering, see: List of badge engineered vehicles.

Badge engineering is a term that describes the rebadging of one product (especially cars) as another. Due to the high cost of designing and engineering a totally new model, or establishing a new brand (which may take many years for it to gain acceptance), it is often more cost effective to rebadge a single product multiple times. However, excessive badge engineering can be problematic for car companies, and even detrimental (Plymouth and Eagle are examples). Having a single car sold under multiple identities may hamper overall sales, and can make marketing become difficult. It may also be an issue for a manufacturer to distinguish the differences between two models without damaging one's reputation.

Ford Fiesta

Mazda 121, Europe

While differences were originally confined to the badges used on the model, more typically it involves slight styling differences, usually limited to the headlights, tail lights, and front and rear fascias. The term derives from the pot metal trademark emblems fastened onto the outside of the car or onto the dashboard.

Badge engineering is common, but it should not be confused with platform sharing within a company. Platform sharing is different from rebadging, as an automobile platform may be used in many different ways and applications, such as using a single platform to produce and sell a sedan and an SUV. The two products are different automobiles, where as in badge engineering involves using the identical (or nearly identical) finished product.

Badge engineering often occurs when an individual manufacturer, such as General Motors, owns a portfolio of different brands, and markets the same car under a different brand. It may be done to expand the ranges of different brands in one market without developing completely new models, such as selling one car as a Chevrolet, a Pontiac, and a Saturn by GM in the United States. It may also be done to sell the same model in different regions and markets simply under a different name. For example, cars built by Daewoo, now owned by GM, are now only badged as Daewoos in South Korea and Vietnam. In other markets, they are now badged as Chevrolets. Similarly, in Australia and New Zealand, where Daewoo was unsuccessful, they are now rebadged as Holden models. The Australian car manufacturing industry experienced major badge reengineering during the 1990s as part of the failed Button car plan.

Another way badge engineering may occur is when two separate companies pool resources by operating a joint venture to create a product, then selling it each as their own, or trading off products that each brand lacks in its lineup. A prime example of this would be the first-generation Honda Odyssey being rebadged as an Isuzu Oasis because Isuzu needed a minivan, while the Isuzu Rodeo was rebadged as the Honda Passport because Honda had the need for an SUV.

Language problems or marketing decisions may lead to a car being given a different model name in a certain country (for example, the Mitsubishi Pajero is called the Montero in Spanish-speaking countries and North America and the Shogun in the UK) although this may not constitute badge engineering as the car is still sold under the same brand name.

Badge engineering also occurs between luxury brands and their parent companies. A parent manufacturer may take a model from a mainstream brand, upgrade it with more features, technology, luxury and/or style, then sell it as a more expensive model under a premium marque. An example of this is the Ford Motor Company taking its more mainstream Ford Expedition, and with exterior, interior, and technological work, selling it as the Lincoln Navigator.

A variant on rebadging is licensing models to be produced by other companies, typically in another country. One example of this is the British Hillman Hunter, which was license-built in Iran as the iconic Paykan.

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